Upload
others
View
2
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
13th Annual International Conference on Mediterranean Studies
6-7 April 2020, Athens, Greece
The Rise of Short-Term Rentals: the issue of parity
Dr Georgios Zouridakis [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Data from AirDNA, presented in BNB Conference, reported by Kathimerini https://www.kathimerini.gr/1067079/article/oikonomia/ellhnikh-oikonomia/epistrefei-to-enoikiasthrio-se-2500-akinhta
Airbnb and HomeAway 24% rise in numbers of
listed properties 107,4% rise in bookings (50.595)
15% decrease in average occupancy 9,4% decrease in average net income
(43,45 euros)
Those who have a spare room or dwelling (quite often a summer house) that they themselves use within the year (idle capacity)
those who own more than one property and see in Short-Term Rentals an opportunity for bigger margin for profit compared to traditional annual leases
non-Greek residents investing in real estate property ( new capacity)
high profit from short term rentals
high gross income (compared to ordinary civil
leases)
low tax rates/no VAT
low property prices
Available properties: flats within multi-storey buildings
Competition:
Demand: domestic and international (increasing)
long-term rentals (small cross-elasticity)
hotels
several alternative forms of tourism
rooms to let
noise, loitering, occupation of communal areas, sense of insecurity
Mutation of the neighbourhood's character
Both augmented by intensive and continuous use
16158/2018 Thessaloniki Court of First Instance
263/2019 Nafplio Court of First Instance
1259/2019 Athens Court of First instance
583/2019 Nafplio Court of First Instance
FACTS: owner of a 103 sq. meters flat accommodating
up to ten tenants. registered property on the internet platform provided services beyond accommodation in
the strict sense, whereas visitors caused nuisance in various ways, such as loitering of communal areas, occupation of parking spaces, noise.
LEGAL GROUNDS: nuisance violation of the multi-storey building/
condominium regulation, which prohibited the operation of a hotel
the landlady run a business akin to a hotel.
was the law misapplied? “akin” ... “the respondent […] proceeded to registering
the aforementioned property […] at the websites brand-named “…” as touristic business- accommodation facility”.
Do short term rentals constitute, by definition, touristic business?
However:
the respondent indeed de facto ran a hotel (in the broad sense), thereby violating the building’s bylaws.
the applicants in this case could have achieved the same result by basing their claim on the prohibition of using the property in a way that disturbs neighbouring owners.
FACTS:
owner of a 104 sq. meters flat accommodating up to sixteen tenants.
registered property on the internet platform
visitors caused nuisance in various ways
LEGAL GROUNDS:
nuisance
violation of the multi-storey building/ condominium regulation: prohibition to run an ”oikotrofeo” (dorm)
the landlady did not run a “oikotrofeo” . was the law misapplied?
No: term has specific meaning in Greek, which is restricted to hospitality addressed to students
complaints on nuisance could stand a chance of being successful, on the ground of the general prohibition; but evidence did not suffice to prove a regular and repeated disturbance
short-term rentals do not constitute touristic business
different from rooms to let, a quasi -hotel category of touristic accommodation under Greek law.
However, what if a de jure short-term rental is de facto a touristic business?
Both decisions show that running a de facto a touristic business may have legal implications, illustrating also the potential of private enforcement in combating abuse. This may extend well beyond condominium regulations:
under Greek law, touristic accommodation is subject not only to several special regulations, specific to the nature and size of the business,
but also to a tax regime different to that of civil rentals.
Quality assessed by visitor's reviews: malleable; ex post facto.
understandably this was the area first considered seriously by the legislature.
Law 4172/2013, art 21: if short term rentals operate in a way that services beyond accommodation stricto sensu are provided, then the income accrued is taxed as income from professional activity
threshold lower than that of ascertaining the operation of a de facto hotel facility
how can the authorities be aware of short- term rentals and their real duration?
the inspections of the tax authorities indicate that about 20.000 properties were not registered. according to the Panhellenic Union of Property Managers, when it comes to AirBnB the actual number of undeclared rentals in Greece rises to 30.000-35.000.
how can the authorities prove which short term rentals constitute business activity for the purposes of Law 4172/2013?
there is no regulation specific to short term rentals, which fall outside the scope of the law on touristic businesses.
questionable whether many flats registered on short term rental platforms yet engaged into full scale touristic operations could successfully meet even the most basic requirements for the operation of rooms to let (let alone hotels), such as, inter alia, those related to the size of the flat and construction of the edifice and those concerning the business owner. providing access to supporting facilities further complicates things.
highly unlikely that the owner is insured and dubious whether inkeeper’s liability would apply
well- documented rises in rental
rates, pointing to a looming housing
problem in certain areas
(internationally too: Garcia-López,
Jofre-Monseny, Martínez Mazza, Segú
2019; Valentin 2019)
over-motivating buyers in real estate
property may lead to a housing
bubble.
Going against the platform is difficult and largely
unfair. Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that AirBnB is simply providing an "information society
service“
striking at the heart of the problem would be a systematic approach of treating short term rentals which de facto are hotel or rooms to let equally to the latter; that is, not only taxing them similarly, but also subjecting them to the same health and safety regulations, planning law restrictions etc.
deregulatory race to the bottom. Fine balance to be struck.
public enforcement. However, as both examined cases show, private enforcement may come to the rescue
Panic unwarranted
Difficulty in trying to apply old rules, be them hard or soft ones,
to new realities
Unregulated STRs may lead to abuse
There is need to set a level playing field, rather than placing
arbitrary restrictions which are difficult to enforce anyways
Private enforcement may play a significant role